La Liberation de Paris

La Libération de Paris is a documentary shot by the French Resistance during the battle of Paris in August 1944.
On August 15, the French Resistance set an uprising in the capital of France then occupied by the German. On August 25, the partisan snipers received backup as the Free French 2nd Armored Division of general Leclerc enters Paris. Urban warfare ensues involving Free French Forces and the German garrison. German and Vichy loyalists are taken prisoners as general Von Choltitz surrenders to Leclerc on August 25. The US enter the city later and de Gaulle delivers a famous speech.

Enjoyed this film and wish to license clips for a documentary about an American Army camera operator who was is alive and was present at 'La Liberacion'. There is a 'bug' on the footage that says 'ina.FR' - which as far as I can tell means a large French cultural archive. The meta-data provided contradicts the statement on the first page that the material is 'public domain'. Does anyone know which part of INA to contact for rights clearance? So far they have passed me from one office to another by email

shut up idiot, not everyone share your sympathy for the damn nazis. the nazis executed french resistors and send civilian jews to death camps how can you support that without being called a nazi?! the french lost the battle of france but they won world war II. by the way the french were not alone fighting in the french battlefield of 1940, the british were there and were defeated by the blitzkrieg. instead of "helping Stalin" the US should had supported France in the right time, not like three years too late. some french supported the germans but how many of them were sent as forced worker in germany per the STO?! the free french fought in africa, middle-east, italia and in the liberation of france. war doesn't end in 1940 idiot, it ends in 1945 with the defeat of germany and japan both signed peace treaty with france. so just STFU.

Theres another good flick with Orson Welles. "Is Paris Burning". I just dont ever see partisans as heroes. France was defeated. They lost fair and square. In fact many welcomed the Germans. There were Frenchmen dying in Russia when this happened. The Barbarossa Div was one of the last units in Berlin. HAd the good general not defied Adolfs orders to burn the city..things would have been different. This took courage. How was he repaid? His soldiers were attacked, killed, the ceasefire was violated. Parisian mobs just like to break the law. They also forget that Marshall Petain had a lot of followers. Prewar France was a mess. The occupation could have been worse. Like the way the Russians occupied Berlin. Parrtisans had their chance to play soldier. The penalty for being a terrorist is death. Liberation? Gimme a break. Germany was fighting communism. We were helping Stalin.

And so, Paris became a free city again on 25 August 1944. Paris had showed its strength many times earlier, in 1830, 1848 and in 1870. Building barricades and fighting the invading troops was no less than a tradition. The many fighting situations, both with and without the supporting French Second Exile Army together with American units, show the fierceness and the bloody endings for many of the humans involved. There are glimpses of Allied tanks, proceeding directly into Hitler´s last counterstrike - the Battle of the Bulge, in the Ardennes during the winter of 1944. This film was shown in cinemas all over the world for a long time after the war had ended. As a boy, I saw parts of it during the Fifties in Malmö, Sweden. An important document, all about one of this world´s true gems - Paris.

An excellent movie about the liberation of Paris in August 1944. It's a montage of films by cineasts within the resistance movement, depicting the events 16-26 August and commented by a speaker. A movie like this has great historical value, of course - the picture given by the newsreels is broadened. The heroes of this movie are partisans, Parisians and the Allies together. There are lots of impressive, moving and unforgettable scenes - partisans, capitulating Nazis, ordinary people and places. The story ends with the victory: cheering crowds, de Gaulle and "la Marseillaise".

The copy is very good, sharp and clear, but 320 x 240 only. I hope to see a copy of this great movie in higher resolution. Thanks for sharing anyway! A must see for anyone interested in WW2 history and footage.